Quoting mreeder50:

Quote:
Our Cable/internet bill is about $225 a month

Ouch,
what extra-services have you booked there?
My costs are ~ 90 U$ (incl. Telephone and VOD) and that is mainly because I need synchronous DSL (32 MBit Up/Download), with the normal variant (32 Down / 2 Up) the costs would be 45 U$.

Quoting Addicted2DVD:

Quote:
Ours is Cable TV (with premium channels, DVR and VoD) / Telephone / internet for $200 per month.

I won't miss the TV all that much since I have plenty of DVDs to watch. Telephone will be a minor inconvenience since we have cell phones (basic... not internet) in the house. But the internet... that is the one that will hurt.

I should be able to get on a little first thing tomorrow morning... but then I will only be on when I can get over to the library.

You are to be commended for your ability to set priorities and stick to them, even when it hurts a bit. Something that many of us, I for one, could learn from.

Often, when you get thrown and stuck into a situation you weren't expecting (even if you originally planned it yourself) you can discover that it is completely different from what you expected, and in some ways for the better (although in your case you are still going to be trying to make it to the library regularly.)


I use the computer every day for most of the day as both work and pleasure. I have done so for over 10 years (very little to do or social life in a cliquish small town.) Between a few personal issues and those of online friends always coming to me for advice on related issues, I felt like I was quickly heading toward a nervous breakdown. So, without a word to anyone, I unplugged my computers and didn't visit the online world in any shape or form for six months.

In doing so, I realized how little it mattered. Sure I was initially thinking about the friends I was leaving behind, but I discovered ways to occupy my time that I had stopped focusing on that I had enjoyed years earlier. When I came back online, almost no one even realized I had been gone for so long.



So, who knows, Pete. You may come back online and start selling your DVDs saying you don't need them anymore!  (If you do, let me know... I wanna have first crack at 'em! )

Think I'll join you Addicted. A self imposed exile for a few months, maybe longer if I don't get the jones' to contribute.

Quoting Lewis_Prothero:

Quote:

- DVR: Buy a TV-card and plug it to your PC / Laptop. A decent one costs about 60 U$ so why pay a monthly fee?

FYI most cable services in US require a cable box or cable-card TV adapter in the PC, for which there is a fee. Then there is the issue of whether or not you can record HD - probably not. I resisted DVR for years, opting for Hauppauge cards instead, until the new restrictions. Now I love my DVR, because I can play back in original quality. When I run out of space, I just add another eSata hard drive.

Quoting Blair:

Quote:
So, without a word to anyone, I unplugged my computers and didn't visit the online world in any shape or form for six months.

In doing so, I realized how little it mattered. Sure I was initially thinking about the friends I was leaving behind, but I discovered ways to occupy my time that I had stopped focusing on that I had enjoyed years earlier. When I came back online, almost no one even realized I had been gone for so long.

Totally agree!
Similar thing happened to me. At points I've chosen to stay away, and once, for 3 months we had no internet. No one noticed. No one cared.

But, it taught me a valuable lesson: don't get too involved in the 'net world...it's not real and no substitute for real life.

Quoting mreeder50:

Quote:
Quoting Lewis_Prothero:

Quote:
Quoting mreeder50:

Quote:
Our Cable/internet bill is about $225 a month

Ouch,
what extra-services have you booked there?
My costs are ~ 90 U$ (incl. Telephone and VOD) and that is mainly because I need synchronous DSL (32 MBit Up/Download), with the normal variant (32 Down / 2 Up) the costs would be 45 U$.

We have 2 internet connections because of the 4 computers in the house sharing 1 line. We have 4 HD TVs, 2 of which are 3D and just about every Premium channel they provide including the 3D package.

I forgot to mention that all 4 HD cable boxes are DVRs.

That is cheap unfortunately I have Cox cable with Telephone and Internet. Internet with 15 Mbps and 1 HD DVR with premeum package, no sports package $278. per month.

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